May 2020

Can you believe we’re already through May 2020? There’s so much happening that it can be hard to keep up — that’s why we’ve rounded up the most important VR and AR news from this month in one convenient spot!

It’s been a packed month — if you’ve missed anything important, it’s probably listed here.

The Biggest Stories

Upload VR Showcase Summer Edition 1

The Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition Arrives June 8 On YouTube & IGN

Watch: Sony Reveals Research On Next-Gen Finger-Tracked VR Controllers

Half-Life: Alyx Catapults VR Headsets On Steam To 2 Million Users

Report: Facebook Developing More Comfortable Oculus Quest With Higher Refresh Rate

Facebook: $100 Million+ Spent On Quest Apps In One Year & More Than 10 Titles Generated $2M+

Oculus Quest Hand-Tracking Gets Full Release, Official Games Coming Soon

Leaker Claims Apple Glass Coming As Soon As Late 2021, Targeting $500

HP Reverb G2: 4K VR Headset With Valve Audio/Lenses, Touch-Like Controllers, & IPD Slider For $600

Editorials, Features and Interviews

Oculus Headsets

Editorial: Oculus ‘Del Mar’ Quest Successor Should Have These Features

Editorial: To Keep Up, Sony Must Prepare To Release More Than One PSVR Next-Gen

Editorial: Facebook Should Aim To Replace Its 3 VR Headsets With 1

Get Rhythm: How Beat Sage Uses AI To Create Beat Saber Maps

Exclusive Interviews: ‘Waltz’ And ‘Curious Tale’ Devs Discuss Quest Hand Tracking Updates

Cooperative Innovations Talks Spaceteam VR… Inside Spaceteam VR

Oculus Quest: Year In Review – Facebook’s Big Play For Standalone VR

Guides and Lists

doom original art work

Half-Life: Alyx – Best Custom Maps, Mods And Campaigns

How To Find, Download And Install Half-Life: Alyx Mods And Custom Maps

How To Install And Play Doom In VR On Oculus Quest

The 25 Best Oculus Quest Games And Experiences – Spring 2020

Best Oculus Quest Games And Apps To Sideload Via SideQuest (Spring 2020)

How To Play Skyrim VR On Oculus Quest – What You Need And The Best Options

Reviews and Hands-On

Tetris Effect Oculus Quest Review: Achieving Transcendence In Standalone VR

Baby Shark VR Is Well-Made, Still Insufferable But Raises Concerning Questions – Quick Review

Gorn On PSVR Is A Great Port In Need Of A Few Fixes

Waltz of the Wizard Quest Hand-Tracking Impressions: Magic In Your Hands

Oculus Quest Review 2020: Facebook’s Standalone Savior Is The VR Headset To Beat

News Highlights

Vader Immortal PSVR

Espire 1 Adds New Weapons, Challenges, Improved Load Times In Upcoming Update

Skydance: Walking Dead PSVR Version Is ‘Awesome’, Quest Port Underway

Star Wars: Vader Immortal Is Coming To PSVR This Summer

Valve Releases Beta OpenVR Support For Unity’s New XR Plugin System

The Wizards – Dark Times Release Date Revealed, Now A Full Sequel

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners PSVR Launches Today

You Can Now Play Echo Arena On Oculus Quest With Open Beta

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Will Get New Content

Dance Rhythm Game Audio Trip Launches On Oculus Quest Today

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners PSVR vs PC VR – A First-Class Console Port

Doctor Who: The Edge Of Time To Get New Content Later This Year As Maze Theory Expands Series

PSVR Exclusive Iron Man VR Launches July 3

Unreal Engine 5 Supports VR, Promises Generational Leap For Graphics

Oculus Link Now Works With Almost Any USB Cable- Including The One In the Box

UploadVR Launches New YouTube Channel: VR Game Trailers & Clips

Valve Launches Half-Life: Alyx Workshop And Community Development Tools

Beat Saber Adds More 360-Degree And One Saber Maps On May 25

‘Immersed’ And ‘Spatial’ Apps Come To Oculus Quest In Remote Work Push

You Can Now Use Your Oculus Username In Select Facebook Groups

Jason Rubin: Oculus Cloud Rendering More Than 5 Years Out

Facebook Shows ‘Floating Windows’ Concept VR Workspace With Color Passthrough

elixir hand tracking yellow hands oculus quest

Elixir Is Facebook’s Free Oculus Quest Hand-Tracking Demo Game, Out Now

University Project Shows Hot And Cold Temperature Change VR Research

Dreams PSVR Support: Media Molecule Paying EU Players For VR Testing

Here’s Every Track Getting New Modes In Today’s Free Beat Saber Update

Watch: Pokémon Go Is Getting AR Occlusion On Select Android Devices

Panasonic Targets 2021 For Its Slim VR Glasses

SideQuest Celebrates 1 Year And Reaches 500 Approved Titles Available

Pico Neo 2 And Its Eye Tracking Variant Now Available Worldwide

Report: PS5 Event Tentatively Scheduled For June 3

New Star Wars VR Game, Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge, Announced

HP’s Next-Gen Reverb G2 Specifications And Price Revealed

Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz Steps Down Citing ‘Focused’ Direction

The post Monthly Round-Up: The Biggest VR And AR News From May 2020 appeared first on UploadVR.



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Much like Eleven Table Tennis before it, Pro Putt by Top Golf on Oculus Quest offers an accessible, authentic and immersive take on a popular sport that’s hard to find too much fault with.

The description for Pro Putt mentions a curious combination of inspirations; Tiger Woods and Mario Golf. True they’re both based on the same sport, but also at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to authenticity and accessibility. Tiger Woods can’t really keep up with Mario when it comes to accuracy, can he? (Note: this is a joke).

And yet, impressively, developer Golf Scope does indeed strike a balance between those two extremes. Pro Putt delivers much of the realism golf players will want (at least without feeling the weight of the putter in your hand), paired with optional extras to ease more casual players into the experience too.

You could, for example, stand at the start of the course, teleport up to the hole and survey the route, before squeezing the trigger to find yourself back by your ball. You can then practice your swing with an outline of the ball before readying up the proper shot. For the real golf experience, that’s all you could ask for, right? Aside from convincing physics, of course, which Pro Putt has down to a tee.

But, if you want to take things a step further, you can squeeze the grip button to get more detailed information, like the topography of the course and the direction you should make your swing in. You can even scale up to a god mode to plan your next move. The more seasoned among us might consider that cheating but, for someone like me, these are essential components to keeping the game accessible and engaging. Most importantly, they don’t automate any part of the experience; you’ll still be relying on your own skill level to get the job done. That makes it immensely rewarding to score a hole in one whether you’re using all of the game’s extra help or none of it.

Plus there are some other smart accessibility features. For example, when the end of your putter hits the ground, the handle will retract to keep it above the floor and avoid any awkward collision issues or need for constant calibration. Little touches like that make Pro Putt a really thoughtful experience.

pro putt golf balls

I do wish there was a bit more of it, though. The game offers three courses with nine holes each. Though 27 levels might sound like plenty, you’ll see them through in no time and then there’s the chance to replay them on the Pro difficulty. A handful of extra practice and minigame modes are appreciated, but it’d be great to see more courses to take on in the future.

Multiplayer is also in, with support for private matches. It’s the best way to inject some longevity into the experience and meeting up with friends out on the course feels incredibly close to the real thing. That said, it is a little disappointing there isn’t a native pass-the-headset style of local multiplayer included here. You could technically just take turns replaying holes with friends, but the lack of a dedicated mode for switching over and keeping score feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

If we’re nitpicking, I’ll also mention that the game’s fixed foveated rendering sticks out more than it does in a majority of Quest games because, well, you’re looking at the bottom edge of the screen much more. I’m sure more experienced players, too, would like the ability to skip the Amateur campaign mode and move right on to the Professional option.

Pro Putt By Topgolf Review Final Impressions

But that’s all these are, nitpicks. Pro Putt joins a growing list of VR titles that brilliantly capture the essence of a sport that inherently makes sense on the platform. It caters to both longtime golfers and casual fans with a wealth of options. A relatively small number of courses hold it back from full marks but, if you aren’t getting out on the green enough these days, Pro Putt offers a compelling alternative.


Final Score: :star: :star: :star: :star: 4/5 Stars | Really Good


Pro Putt Oculus Quest Golf Review Score


Pro Putter By Topgolf is now available on Oculus Quest. To find out how we arrived at this score, check out our review guidelines.

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A new free update is available now for Oculus Rift and Quest app Color Space, which launched earlier this year. The update adds 3 new scenes to the game’s existing 13 launch scenes, providing users with more beautiful artwork to color in VR.

Launched in March this year, Color Space is a VR game that allows users to color in pieces of beautiful art and environments in virtual reality. It takes the timeless appeal of coloring books and transfers them to an immersive medium to great success. The game launched with 13 scenes available, and this new update, titled the ‘Another World’ update, will add an additional three for those who have exhausted the existing options.

We spoke to VR artist Danny Bittman about Color Space earlier in the year. Bittman works on the game as a creative director and composer, and has been creating art with VR tools for many years now. Some of Bittman’s other works are available in VR apps like the Museum of Other Realities, but Color Space lets you collaborate with the artists for the first time. The game lets you color in works of art created by Bittman, most of which were initially created in other tools like Tilt Brush or Gravity Sketch.

The free ‘Another World’ update is available now for Color Brush. The game is available to purchase on the Oculus Store for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift for $9.99.

Do you enjoy Color Space? Will you be trying out the new scenes from the update? Let us know in the comments.

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VR Job Hub

Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe, to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location Company Role Link
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Narrative Designer Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment System Administrator Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Senior Technical Animator Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Devops Engineers Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Network Programmer Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Senior 3D Animator Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Senior Game Programmer Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Lead Game Programmer Click Here to Apply
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Force Field Entertainment Lead Game Designer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink Games Programmer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink Games Tester Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink HTML 5 Programmer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink Narrative Designer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink Producer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink Senior VR Game Designer Click Here to Apply
Sunderland, UK Coatsink UI/UX Artist Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.



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Gadgeteer will receive a big new helping of content on June 11, called the ‘Color and Cubes’ update.

The update adds a coloring feature to the game, so players can make more complex and decorated virtual Rude Goldberg machines that fit to their desired aesthetic.

Gadgeteer released late last year for PC VR and Oculus Quest, and has received a few updates since launch. However, the new colors and cubes update and the one that will proceed it look to be the biggest released for the game yet.

With colors and cubes, developers have added new gadgets — the ‘Start Cube’ and ‘End Cube’ — and a new ‘Color Toolhead’ to the game, which lets you color your machines in over 60 different colors. Metanaut CEO and Co-Founder Peter Kao said that the feature was developed despite the fact that nobody has actually asked for it. “We trusted our gut and made the risky decision to develop a feature nobody asked for,” he said. “We saw passionate players build these incredible machines—but no matter how different they were mechanically, they all looked the same.”

As an excellent example of what’s possible with the tool, Metanaut posted a new trailer, embedded above, showing a marble race that wouldn’t have been possible without the new additions.

This updates leads into an even larger planned update that will add that ability to share level creations online, allowing users to download and try out other users’ virtual Rude Goldberg machines. The color and cubes update lays the foundation for the next update, ensuring players will be able to design a machine in whatever color scheme and ensuring there are visual differences between each machine.

The colors and cubes update will be available from June 11, and the level sharing update is scheduled for release in August.

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We’re sorry to inform you that you won’t be making it through the Upload VR Showcase on June 8th without screaming a few times. That is to say, another terrifying look at Cosmophobia arrives at the show!

Cosmophobia is the new title from White Door Games, best known for its terrifying procedurally-generated VR debut, Dreadhalls. This takes the same core principle of trying to survive in a deadly maze and applies it to the ONE place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism… space! If the drones don’t get you, the hideous beast lurking just around the corner might.

cosmophobia vr showcase

Haven’t heard of the VR Showcase before? It’s quite simple; it’s our digital video to announce a whole bunch of cool new VR games and show off fresh looks at some of your most anticipated titles. This year’s show is going to be streaming right here at 9am PT, and will also be shown on IGN and Summer Game Fest. Not only that, but you can tune in early at 8:30am PT to catch our pre-show! There we’ll be making yet more reveals and talking over announcements in our virtual studio!

What else are you predicting for this year’s show? Let us know in the comments below!

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While wireless technologies have continued to improve in bandwidth, distance, and resilience against interference, most businesses and general consumers haven’t yet upgraded to Wi-Fi 6, last year’s sequel to the older, popular 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) standard. That’s probably for the best, as chipmakers are now moving to Wi-Fi 6E, a superior, recently approved update, and Qualcomm is ready with new device and router solutions that promise “VR-class low latency” and the fastest Wi-Fi speeds consumers have seen.

Qualcomm is announcing the FastConnect 6900 and 6700, device-ready wireless systems that include both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 for maximum wireless performance and power efficiency. While FastConnect 6700 offers a peak Wi-Fi speed of 3 gigabits per second (Gbps), the higher-end 6900 tops out at 3.6Gbps, using four-stream dual-band simultaneous transmitting and 6GHz multi-band capabilities. Those numbers are faster than the 2- to 2.63Gbps peak Broadcom is claiming for its competing BCM4389, and Qualcomm is promising under 3-millisecond latency — enough to support cable-free head-mounted displays for VR — with up to eight times better latency reduction in Wi-Fi-congested environments.

It’s hard to overstate how important Wi-Fi 6E is likely to be for offices, retail spaces, and densely populated living spaces such as apartments. For the first time in decades, the new standard opens additional 6GHz radio spectrum to Wi-Fi, the equivalent of adding a giant, empty new highway immediately next to existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz roads. Between extra lanes and more modern infrastructure, users will be able to send data faster and with greater responsiveness, letting newer devices both avoid and decrease congestion on the older roads. If you’re working from home, you’ll get superb wireless performance regardless of signal competition from your neighbors; offices and stores will be able to use next-generation VR headsets and holographic displays without cables or network hiccups.

There’s a big year-over-year performance difference compared with the prior FastConnect 6800, which was used in LG’s V60 and Xiaomi’s Mi 10/Pro, among other devices. In addition to nearly or fully doubling the prior peak Wi-Fi speed of 1.8Gbps, FastConnect 6700 and 6900 support Bluetooth 5.2 with LE Audio, the new high-efficiency audio standard that enables multi-point connectivity and open, broadcast-style streaming. Two Bluetooth-specific antennas are included to improve both reliability and range, while the LE Audio standard delivers a stronger combination of low power consumption and high sonic fidelity than before. Qualcomm notes that the new systems are built using a 14-nanometer process, delivering up to 50% better power efficiency than prior-generation solutions.

On the router side, Qualcomm is also introducing four new Wi-Fi 6E Networking Pro platforms, each including support for Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 — capable of operating simultaneously on 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHZ frequency bands. Depending on the performance level an OEM chooses, it can offer anything from a business- or campus-scale enterprise access point to a home mesh Wi-Fi network, with support for up to 2,000 simultaneous clients.

All four of the Networking Pro platforms use quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processors, but they differ in maximum throughput. With the highest-end 1610 platform, clients can collectively reach up to 10.8Gbps of data usage, twice the peak of the lowest-end 610 platform. However, the peak single device-to-device transfer speed is 2.4Gbps, which Qualcomm achieves using an especially dense (4,096 QAM) implementation of Wi-Fi 6E.

The four platforms are as follows:

  • Networking Pro 1610 (2.2GHz A53): Up to 16 streams, 10.8Gbps peak total speed
  • Networking Pro 1210 (2.2GHz A53): Up to 12 streams, 8.4Gbps peak total speed
  • Networking Pro 810 (1.8GHz A53): Up to 8 streams, 6.6Gbps peak total speed
  • Networking Pro 610 (1.8GHz A53): Up to 6 streams, 5.4Gbps peak total speed

Qualcomm is shipping the Networking Pro platforms now, and expects them to be commercially available in OEM products this year. The FastConnect 6900 and 6700 are sampling now to OEMs and are expected to appear in devices starting in the second half of 2020.

This post by Jeremy Horwitz originally appeared on VentureBeat.

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The Line is a wonderful and short immersive experience available on Oculus Quest that sees a charming love story play out as you look down and interact with a table of beautiful miniature models. Even better, the whole experience supports controller-free hand tracking, and it’s an absolute perfect fit.

Produced by AVORE, the same Brazilian VR studio behind the Pixel Ripped series, The Line is a fantastic piece of immersive short cinema, now available on the Quest. It won “Best VR Experience” at the 76th Venice International Film Festival last year, but the Quest release is the first time it will be available to the general public. Plus, this release is one of only four apps on the Quest store that officially supports controller-free hand tracking.

The story is only around 15 minutes long, but packs a lot of charm and detail into a small package. It’s set within a scale model of 1940s São Paulo and follows Pedro, a miniature doll and newspaper delivery man, who runs the same route around the model every day, leaving a flower outside the house of Rosa, the girl he loves, each time.

I won’t get too much into the narrative here — given its short length and simple nature, it’s something you’re better off going through blind. That being said, it’s a charming and simple narrative matched with sublime narration from Rodrigo Santoro (who you may know from HBO’s Westworld) and absolutely superb animation. It’s got a Pixar short vibe to it, and almost feels like it takes cues from Toy Story and Coco, melding them into a story presented in Moss-esque dioramas.

The Line offers support for roomscale and seated experiences, with the option to use controllers or hand tracking. I tried out The Line with both options — controllers work as expected, but the hand tracking option is a perfect fit for this type of experience. You can view a short clip embedded above, but the bottom line is that all of the actions you perform are very basic and therefore easy for the Quest to track reliably, making it one of the more enjoyable hand tracking experiences I’ve had so far.

If you’ve got a spare 15 minutes this week, I would highly recommend checking out The Line on Oculus Quest. There’s a reason it won at the Venice Film Festival and why the title screen is splashed with various accolades — it ticks all the right boxes. There’s an endearing narrative, fantastic animation and brilliant integration of new technology with Quest’s hand tracking.

The Line is available now on Oculus Quest for $4.99. It’s also available in a new ‘Cinematic Narrative Set’ for Quest at $12.98, alongside Gloomy Eyes, which also launched recently and supports hand tracking.

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Last week’s announcement of the HP Reverb G2 headset was met with excitement from the VR community. But, while the US can already pre-order the device, HP Reverb G2 worldwide pre-orders aren’t available yet. We know when they will be, though.

During a presentation announcing the headset at the AWE 2020 event last week, the company confirmed that HP Reverb G2 worldwide pre-orders would be launching in mid-June and then continuing to roll out across July. These regions include Asia, Canada, Latin America and Europe. US pre-orders are currently available from the official website.

Later on in the session the company clarified that, although HP Reverb G2 worldwide pre-orders are coming later, shipping for the device will be global. That’s currently scheduled for launch in fall 2020. We also don’t have individual pricing for different regions just yet, but we’ll let you know when we get that information.

Reverb G2 has caught the attention of VR enthusiasts thanks to an impressive spec sheet, made possible by a collaboration with Microsoft and Valve. Like the original Reverb, the G2 boasts a 4K resolution, and inside-out tracking, but also delivers four-camera tracking, Valve Index-style audio, improved ergonomics and redesigned Windows Mixed Reality controllers. Coming in at $599, the device shows a lot of promise for the enthusiast PC VR market. HP calls it a ‘no compromise’ headset, a marketing line we discussed heavily in this week’s episode of our VR Download podcast.

Will you be laying down a pre-order for the HP Reverb G2 when they launch across the globe in a few months? Let us know in the comments below!

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Rony Abovitz - Magic Leap

Magic Leap’s CEO Rony Abovitz help found the mixed reality (MR) startup back in 2011, steering the company through massive funding rounds in a bid to make the technology the next big thing. That’s going to come to an end as he has issued a statement confirming his departure from the role.

Magic Leap

Magic Leap launched its first product, the Magic Leap One, back in 2018, having managed to raise over $2.6 billion USD from investors over the years. But it failed to achieve the success it expected, reportedly only selling 6,000 units of its $2,300 device in the first six months.

So as the company looks to a more enterprise-focused future, Abovitz is taking a step back, revealing that Magic Leap has already begun looking for his replacement.

The full statement from Abovitz on the Magic Leap blog reads:

“As we’ve shared over the last several weeks, in order to set Magic Leap on a course for success, we have pivoted to focus on delivering a spatial computing platform for enterprise.

“We have closed significant new funding and have very positive momentum towards closing key strategic enterprise partnerships.

“As the Board and I planned the changes we made and what Magic Leap needs for this next focused phase, it became clear to us that a change in my role was a natural next step. I discussed this with the Board and we have agreed that now is the time to bring in a new CEO who can help us to commercialize our focused plan for spatial computing in enterprise. We have been actively recruiting candidates for this role and I look forward to sharing more soon.

“I have been leading Magic Leap since 2011 (starting in my garage). We have created a new field. A new medium. And together we have defined the future of computing. I am amazed at everything we have built and look forward to everything Magic Leap will create in the decades to come.

“I will remain our CEO through the transition and am in discussions with the Board with regards to how I will continue to provide strategy and vision from a Board level. I remain super excited about Magic Leap’s future and believe deeply in our team and all of their incredible talent and capabilities.”

Magic Leap enterprise

The company recently managed to raise $350 million, stemming the tide of job losses which have been taking place this year.

Whether Magic Leap’s fortunes improve because of the funding remains to be seen. As development’s continue VRFocus will let you know.



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Look sharp and get your guns at the ready; Resolution Games’ Blaston is coming to the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition on June 8th at 9am PT!

Announced last month, Blaston is a competitive dueling game with a VR flavor. There’s already a snazzy trailer, but we’ll be showing you the first gameplay in which players go head-to-head. Resolution Games’ credits include Acron: Attack of the Squirrels (which featured at least year’s Showcase) and Angry Birds VR, so you’ll definitely want to pay attention.

Blaston VR Showcase

Not heard of our VR Showcases before? They’re essentially big celebrations of gaming inside headsets; we’ll be announcing new games and sharing updates on some of your most anticipated titles. You may have seen our other news today. Along with IGN, this year’s Showcase will also be streaming as part of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest! Oh, and we’ll be hosting a pre-show with yet more announcements at 8:30am PT, so get here early!

Here’s some other games you can expect from this year’s show. We’ll have yet more teases next week, so check back soon!

What else are you hoping to see at this year’s show? Let us know in the comments below!

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Yes, this is the VR Showcase you’re looking for. Bookmark this page, because the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition goes live at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm BT!

Wait, what’s the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition? Simple – it’s a huge video dedicated to announcing new VR games and experiences as well as debuting new trailers and features for both the titles you love and the ones you can’t wait to play.

So bookmark this page, because you’ll find the Showcase right here on June 8th. Better yet, get here early; at 8:30am PT/11:30am ET/4:30pm BT we’ll be launching our pre-show. Coming to you from our Virtual Studios (where we host our weekly Download podcast), we’ll be debuting yet more reveals and discussing the year in VR so far. We’ll also be following up the Showcase with developer interviews and further coverage. More on that soon.

Upload VR Showcase Time Date Partners

This year’s show is also airing on IGN and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest! We’re super excited about these partnerships bringing the VR goodness to yet more people.

But what can you expect? We’ve already been teasing a few reveals for this year’s show. We’ll have new game announcements from some of VR’s biggest studios, like Fast Travel Games. Plus there’s updates on some of the best titles to release in the past few years, like Pistol Whip. Oh, and we’ll be getting fresh looks at some of the most anticipated titles on the horizon, like Low-Fi. Overall we’ll be showing over 20 games and experiences, so there’s bound to be something to your taste.

So, just to recap: bookmark this page because at 8:40am PT/11:40am ET/4:40pm BT we run our pre-show, counting down to the main event at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm BT! What are you looking forward to seeing this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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We’re now just over a week away from the 2020 Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition on June 8th! Today, we can finally share a few more details about the big show.

Earlier this month we announced that this year’s showcase would be live both on our own platform and as part of IGN’s Summer of Gaming event. Today, we’re also announcing a partnership with Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest! You’ll be able to find us on the event’s website.

What’s more, we can now confirm the show will be streaming at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm BT! But before that, you won’t want to miss our pre-show! We’ll have yet more reveals as we count down to the main event, coming to you from our Virtual Studio at 8:30am PT/11:30am ET/4:30pm BT. We’ll be on-hand to talk over the news and reflect on the year in VR so far.

Upload VR Showcase Time Date Partners

Oh, and we have the official URL for the show. Bookmark this page.

But wait, there’s yet more! After the show’s over, we’ll be bringing you extended coverage of our reveals, with interviews with Showcase developers inside our Virtual Studio. If you want to learn more about some of the show’s biggest announcements, you’ll want to stay tuned.

In case you haven’t seen, here are some of the reveals we’ve got lined up for you this time around.

So, be here bright and early at 8:30am PT on June 8th to get the full Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition experience! It’s going to be a blast.

 

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Creepy sci-fi horror, The Persistence, jumped from PSVR to PC VR this month (alongside traditional consoles and PCs), but it sounds like there could be new content on the way too.

Graeme Ankers, co-founder at The Persistence developer Firesprite, suggested as much speaking to Wccftech this month. Asked if the game could get DLC, he replied: “We’ve got a big list of stuff we’re always keen to be working on and we’re constantly looking at. We definitely have plans for that going forward. Also, we’re looking at what else we do with the game itself and the universe we’ve created.”

Ankers later added: “The Persistence is our first owned IP and our chance to really, really show what we can do to everybody in the world.”

From the sounds of it, then, there could be much more from The Persistence on the way. We definitely agree that the terror Firesprite created, in which players try to survive as they sneak through a procedurally generated ship overrun with monsters, could be fleshed out. Of course, there’s no guarantee that any new games in the Persistence universe would still support VR but, at the very least, we’d hope additional DLC would be available to VR owners too.

“The Persistence offers something fresh and engaging by mixing different genres that we don’t often see melded together so well,” we said of the game in our 8/10 review. “On a moment-to-moment basis, the horrors lurking around every corner keep you on your toes and the give-and-take aspect of its roguelike nature ensures that no two runs are ever quite the same. “

The post New Persistence Games/DLC Could Be On The Way appeared first on UploadVR.



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PlayStation 5 event

PlayStation fans have been eagerly awaiting more news about the upcoming PlayStation 5 (PS5) with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) remaining relatively tight-lipped in comparison to its Xbox rival. Next week however it’s the turn of the content to make an appearance with a PlayStation ‘Future of Gaming’ event being held.

PlayStation DualSense

Taking place at 9pm BST (1pm PST) on Thursday 4th June via Twitch and YouTube, SIE’s President & CEO Jim Ryan confirmed via PlayStation Blog that this would be a videogame focused event: “I’m excited to share that we will soon give you a first look at the games you’ll be playing after PlayStation 5 launches this holiday. The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe.”

With the showcase said to run for just over an hour that’s plenty of time to announce plenty of next-generation titles for PlayStation 5. The question is, will it include any new PlayStation VR content, highlighting SIE’s continued support of the platform. As PlayStation VR has already been confirmed to support the upcoming console it would be good to see a least one new project getting the VR treatment.

Of course, what everyone is really waiting for is the unveiling of the PlayStation 5 hardware itself. SIE has already revealed the new DualSense controller back in April and in March Lead System Architect Mark Cerny held a ‘deep dive’ into console’s system architecture. The design announcement will be kept for last, most likely in conjunction with the price and release date.

PlayStation VR third anniversary

It also remains to be seen how badly production of PlayStation 5 will be affected by the current coronavirus pandemic, and whether SIE will be able to keep up with orders during the crucial Holiday 2020 sales window.

As for now, why not head over to XR Games and see if the studio has any free copies left of The Angry Birds Movie 2: VR Under Pressure for PlayStation VR. Or there’s always SIE’s Days of Play event with a variety of hardware and software deals to make use of.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of the latest PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR news, reporting back with further announcements.



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The news you’ve been waiting for is here; the very first PS5 showcase takes place on June 4th.

Sony just confirmed as much on the PlayStation Blog. A digital showcase (like ours!) will be going live at 1pm PT on June 4th. That’s just a day after the initial reports that suggested the event would be on June 3rd.

Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment, clarified that the event will be focused on “the games you’ll be playing after PlayStation 5 launches this holiday season.”

Expect a lot of information; the showcase will run for over an hour. “A lack of physical events has given us an amazing opportunity to think differently and bring you on this journey with us, and hopefully, closer than ever before. This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you.”

PS5 is confirmed to be supporting the original PSVR headset and features backwards compatibility with the ‘majority’ of PS4 titles. We also know Sony is prototyping a potential successor to the device to run on PS5. But don’t expect any PSVR 2 announcements in next week’s showcase; Sony says the headset isn’t likely to launch this year. You can catch up with everything we know about PSVR 2 right here.

Still, it’ll be an exciting first glimpse at the console that will be powering a new generation of VR. We’ll be tuning in for sure. What do you want to see?

The post Confirmed: First PS5 Showcase Coming On June 4th appeared first on UploadVR.



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HP Reverb G2

Yesterday saw HP make a definitive step towards entering the virtual reality (VR) gaming space by announcing the Reverb G2, a headset made in collaboration with Valve and Microsoft. Based on the Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) platform the specifications promise what could be one of the best pieces of consumer VR hardware so below you’ll find a side-by-side comparison with all the other contenders.

HP Reverb G2

Unlike the previous HP Reverb, the 2020 edition won’t be purely aimed at the enterprise market – an area some companies have steered towards to remain viable. This time consumers will get a look in, with a headset priced at $599 USD, offering an easy setup thanks to inside-out tracking and possibly class leading visuals.

The HP Reverb G2 will offer 2160 x 2160 per eye resolution while the Valve Index’s 1600 x 1440 seems a little lacklustre by comparison. The lenses on HP’s headset have been designed by Valve as well as the off-ear speakers to provide the spatial audio.

At that price the HP Reverb G2 sits between the Oculus Rift S at $399 and Valve Index’s full kit at $999, making it a very tempting solution for those looking at Valve’s headset who would like to save $400 to spend on videogames and not have to worry about base station placement. Whether the extra $200 over the Oculus Rift S is worth it is another matter. Once VRFocus has got its hands on the HP Reverb G2 you’ll know.

From the looks of it the HP Reverb G2 shapes up very nicely and could well become a Windows Mixed Reality headset to own. The platform has struggled since its launch in 2017, the headsets were cheaper than rivals whilst providing early inside-out tracking. But they never took off, VR was still finding its feet and the sudden influx of six devices didn’t make things simple for consumers.

HP has persevered and now looks to be on the right track. Even the ugly WMR controllers have had a makeover and actually look like they could be comfortable.

A worldwide launch of the HP Reverb G2 is expected to take place in the Autumn, with pre-orders going live in the coming weeks/months. VRFocus will continue its coverage of HP’s new Reverb G2, reporting back with the latest updates.



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We’ve got table tennis, we just got golf, and now Oculus Quest is getting another sport that makes perfect sense for the platform – bowling.

Premium Bowling has appeared in the Coming Soon section of the Oculus Store. Developed by Sadetta, the game lets you hit the lanes in VR. There’s no date for the Quest release just yet, but you can check the game out in the trailer below.

It looks like it comes with the expected bells and whistles; alongside solo-play, there are multiplayer modes including both local and online options. Given we’re currently in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m sure some will relish the chance to spend a Saturday night passing a headset round in a bowling match. Leaderboards and ball customization options also feature.

The game’s been in full release on Steam for PC VR headsets since October 2019, where it’s racked up a ‘Very Positive’ rating based on 120 user reviews. Better yet, Sadetta, has been pretty consistent with updates since launch, so it looks like this one will be well-supported.

All that said we haven’t yet given the game a go for ourselves yet so we can’t speak to its quality. Like we said, bowling makes great sense in VR as opposed to more mobile sports like football, though without replicating the weight of a ball it’s tough to know how throwing it down the lane will really feel. We’ll look to bring you more impressions as we get closer to the launch of Premium Bowling on Oculus Quest.

The post Premium Bowling Coming Soon To Oculus Quest appeared first on UploadVR.



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Traffic Jams - Key Art

One of the biggest challenges facing indie developers isn’t just creating a videogame but getting it published to hopefully make some money. This week Arizona Sunshine creator Vertigo Games has announced it’ll publish Little Chicken Game Company’s Traffic Jams later this year.

A tongue-in-cheek experience set in a world where all the traffic lights have stopped working, it’s up to you to stop all hell breaking loose and keep vehicles and pedestrians moving in the right direction.

While the jobs start out small, ensuring people cross the road safely and making sure drivers don’t get road rage by keeping the traffic flowing, events soon take a far more disastrous turn. You’ll have to deal with (un)natural disasters like the occasional meteorite, monsters and of course rude pedestrians and impatient drivers.

“VR is successfully carving out its place in the living room and we immediately saw the potential of Traffic Jams to excite both new and experienced VR players there,” said Richard Stitselaar, Managing Director at Vertigo Games in a statement. “Its playful art style and fun characters combined with easy to pick-up, hard to master gameplay makes it appealing and accessible to a wide audience in a genre that has not yet seen its fill. We’re thrilled to combine our forces with old friends at Little Chicken and help them bring this gem to VR players worldwide.”

Traffic Jams

“In Vertigo Games we found the ideal partner and publisher for Traffic Jams,” said Yannis Bolman, CEO at Little Chicken Game Company. “Not only do they provide a wealth of information about the world of VR games through their experience in this field, in Vertigo Games we found like-minded souls that enjoy creativity and crazy ideas to make the most of this unique medium we call VR. Next to this synergy we’ve known the people at Vertigo for many years, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to work with them and combine our powers through Traffic Jams.

This isn’t the first VR title from Little Chicken Game Company as the studio previously released Track Lab in 2018 for PlayStation VR. A mixed music creation and puzzle-solving videogame, VRFocus noted in its review: “Its definitely worth your time if you are interested in music or puzzle games.”

Vertigo Games and Little Chicken Game Company plan to launch Traffic Jams later this year for all major headsets.



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